The blindness paradigm: The visibility and invisibility of the body

Chagas, Paulo

2006

Contemporary Music Review 25: 119-130.

Language: English

In this article, the author focuses on the theoretic issues of the collaborative project Canções dos Olhos (Paulo C. Chagas composition, Johannes Birringer choreography and video, Veronica Endo dance). The work, inspired by the novel Blindness by José Saramago, explores the cognitive and aesthetic dimensions of blindness in terms of embodiment experience. The project was conceived as an 'intermedia' song cycle resulting in a DVD and an audiovisual installation. Compositional elements include voice (soprano), processed voice, dance and digital film. Based on the experience of Canções dos Olhos, this article addresses questions of both the visibility and invisibility of the body in the autopoietic process of generating electroacoustic and digital music, and reflects on the relationship between technology and embodied human interaction in artistic collaboration.